Atlanta, March 14 (Usa): Tra Young scored 33 of his 47 points in the first half, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 131-128 on Sunday night.
Atlanta, 10th in the Eastern Conference, scored seven players in double digits and fired 54.8% from the field. Danilo Gallinari and Deandre Hunter each scored 15 points, and Kevin Huerter finished with 14 points.
The Hawks have won 13 of 15 at home and two in a row. They scored a season-high 77 in the first half, the Associated Press reported.
Therese Halliburton and Buddy Heald each scored 25 points for Indiana State, who dropped four of five and 13 of 17. The Pacers, 13 of the East, dropped to 8-27 on the road.
Young’s 33 first-half points were their highest in either half. He was coming off his 23rd-leading NBA game of at least 25 points and 10 assists in Friday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers. That’s ten times more than James Harden, the next closest player. He finished with five assists.
The Falcons’ biggest lead in the first half was 19 in the final seconds on Young’s two free throws. Atlanta hit 60% from the ground in the first half, 59.1% in 3 seconds.
Young was 9 for 13 from the ground, including a 7 for 9 for 3 seconds, in the first two quarters. He did as he pleased most of the match, stopping for 3 seconds, showing his ability to handle the ball and score with ease.
Indiana went in round 21-10 to start the third inning and withdrew in the seventh minute at the 6:09 mark, but Young led the way for a runner and hit the ball on a quick break to make the score 94-82 and cause the Pacers to win a call-out time.
Young went 14 for 14 free throws.
The Pacers were down to eight players due to injuries, and pulled out by two free throws to Duane Washington Jr. with 1:09 left in the game. Young took a pair of free throws with 28.8 seconds left and two more with nine seconds left to help close it out.
Hint
Pacers: Se Goga Petadze (right foot), J-Chris Duarte (left big toe) and J-Lance Stephenson (left ankle) were all in question before the game but were disqualified. …Malcolm Brogdon (concussion), GTJ McConnell (right wrist), C-Miles Turner (left foot), FTJ Warren (left foot) and JR Ricky Rubio (left knee).
Hawks: F John Collins, the team’s top scorer and second leading, had a sprained right toe and a strain on the right foot. Gallinari started in position and scored 11 points in the second quarter. …Atlanta’s previous high in the first half was 76 points, coming against Indiana on Feb. 8…Young reached 40 points for the seventh time this season.
hard to stop
Atlanta coach Nate McMillan has been impressed throughout the season by Young’s ability to manage picking and create scoring opportunities for his teammates. The Hawks are seventh in scoring, Young fifth in scoring and third in assists.
“I think we saw pretty much everything the teams tried to do,” Macmillan said. “The trap, they deny, they try to play Box-and-one. Normally he will get the best defender and they usually try (use) the length. They switched from one to five, so Trae has really seen all the defenses this year. Trae does a good job creating The insult is from that group, so we will continue to do so.”
next one
Pacers: Memphis hosts on Tuesday.
Hawks: Portland hosts on Monday.